Commitment by site of research

The site of research must commit to administering and funding the project by acknowledging receipt of a separate request for commitment as follows.

The applicant must enter the details of the person issuing the commitment of the site of research into the field at the bottom of the Funding page. A request for commitment will be sent from the Academy after the application deadline has expired. Please make sure that you enter the email address of the person issuing the commitment correct and that it is in active use.

The person issuing the commitment will then receive an email including a link to the login page of the online services. After logging in, the person issuing the commitment will find the requests for commitment under My commitments.

After the representative of the site of research has read the online application with appendices and issued the commitment to the project by acknowledging receipt of the request in the online services, the applicant will receive an email notification.

Different alternatives for commitment by site of research (as of the April 2013 call):

1. Decisions in accordance with the full cost model

When the Academy of Finland grants funding, the recipient university, research institute or other organisation undertakes to use the funding for the purpose for which it is granted and to comply with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines. The site of research commits to contributing to the funding and administration of the project and undertakes to provide the project with the necessary basic facilities. These are determined based on the nature of the research and are the same as those available to other research staff at the institution: office and laboratory premises, equipment (incl. computer equipment) and telecommunications, telephone, mailing, copying and library services.

The Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) applies to the funding granted by the Academy. The site of research of the principal investigator (PI) of the funded project administers the funds. The site of research also undertakes to act as the recipient of the discretionary government transfer or the funding on behalf of the applicant, and to assume all duties related thereto. The site of research is permitted to use the funds solely to fund research carried out by the PI named in the application, in compliance with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines as well as the regulations and instructions of the site of research.

Academy research funding is a joint venture in which the funds to finance a project’s costs come from at least two sources. When Academy funding is applied for, universities, research institutes and other research organisations commit to contributing to a co-funded project with the percentage detailed in the funding plan included in the application. The Academy of Finland’s funding contribution normally comes to no more than 70 per cent of the estimated total project costs. In the funding aimed at strengthening universities’ research profiles, key project funding and in the funding by the Strategic Research Council, the Academy’s funding contribution comes to 100 per cent. In these funding opportunities, the applicant organisations need not contribute to the costs with their own funding.

The site of research undertakes to employ the personnel to be hired with the Academy funding in accordance with the salary regulations applied by the organisation in question, and to report on the use of funds in line with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines. The site of research commits to applying the percentage for indirect employee costs, the overheads percentage and the coefficient for effective working hours given in the application. The Academy funds a project’s VAT costs only if the VAT remains as a final cost for the applicant’s site of research.

The site of research undertakes to follow the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (“Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland”). The site of research also commits to overseeing that the project follows the legislation and the ethical regulations and recommendations on the handling of personal data as well as to making sure that the project has acquired all necessary permits.

Decision by Vice President for Research, 12 Feb 2016

2. Salary funding for Academy Research Fellows and Academy Professors

When the Academy of Finland grants funding, the recipient university, research institute or other organisation undertakes to use the funding for the purpose for which it is granted and to comply with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines. The site of research commits to contributing to the funding and administration of the project and undertakes to provide the project with the necessary basic facilities. These are determined based on the nature of the research and are the same as those available to other research staff at the institution: office and laboratory premises, equipment (incl. computer equipment) and telecommunications, telephone, mailing, copying and library services. The additional cost model is applied to salary funding.

The Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers applies to the funding granted by the Academy. The site of research of the PI of the funded project administers the funds. The site of research also undertakes to act as the recipient of the discretionary government transfer or the funding on behalf of the applicant, and to assume all duties related thereto. The site of research is permitted to use the funds solely to fund research carried out by the PI named in the application, in compliance with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines as well as the regulations and instructions of the site of research.

The research posts as Academy Professor and Academy Research Fellow are intended for full-time research and related activities. The duties of an Academy Professor and an Academy Research Fellow comprise teaching and supervision of theses in the Academy Professor’s/Research Fellow’s own field to the equivalent of 5 per cent of the annual working hours without separate remuneration; in total, no more than 10 per cent of the annual working hours may be spent on teaching and other work not immediately connected with the Academy Professor’s/Research Fellow’s own research.

The Academy decides on the amount of the salary grant to be awarded towards the salary of a research post as Academy Professor and Academy Research Fellow. The site of research undertakes to use the funding granted towards the salary of an Academy Professor or Academy Research Fellow for the intended purpose, and to employ the Academy Professor or Academy Research Fellow for at least the funding period.

Researchers who have been granted salary funding will be asked to submit a separate application for research costs in accordance with the full cost model.

The site of research undertakes to follow the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (“Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland”). The site of research also commits to overseeing that the project follows the legislation and the ethical regulations and recommendations on the handling of personal data as well as to making sure that the project has acquired all necessary permits.

3 Commitment by site of research in decisions in accordance with the additional cost model

When the Academy of Finland grants funding, the university, research institute or other organisation undertakes to use the funding for the purpose for which it is granted and to comply with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines. The site of research commits to contributing to the administration of the project and undertakes to provide the project with the necessary basic facilities. These are determined on the basis of the nature of the research, but the usual basic facilities are the same as those available to other research staff at the institution, such as office and laboratory premises, equipment (incl. computer equipment) and telecommunications, telephone, mailing, copying and library services.

The Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers applies to the funding granted by the Academy. The site of research of the PI of the project administers the funds. The site of research also undertakes to act as the recipient of the discretionary government transfer or the funding on behalf of the applicant, and to assume all duties related thereto. The recipient site of research is permitted to use the transfer solely to fund research carried out by the PI named in the application, in compliance with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines as well as the regulations and instructions of the site of research. The site of research also undertakes to report on the use of the funds in compliance with the Academy’s conditions and guidelines.

The site of research undertakes to follow the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (“Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland”). The site of research also commits to overseeing that the project follows the legislation and the ethical regulations and recommendations on the handling of personal data as well as to making sure that the project has acquired all necessary permits.